Finding the Bob Marley of China
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Meet Yunnan-based reggae band Kawa and their lead singer, Laohan, whom young fans look up to as their own Bob Marley.
Kawa is composed of Wa people, an indigenous group that’s considered a minority in China. Their claimed ancestral home is a territory that straddles the border between China and Myanmar.
The Wa people were split in 1960 when the two countries defined their borders, and the majority of Wa now live in Myanmar. An estimated 30 percent are in southwestern China.
Laohan and Kawa have found a connection to their indigenous roots through reggae, taking inspiration from Jamaican rhythms and the Rastafarian philosophy of ethnic unity. By combining reggae with their native Wa language and music, they’ve cultivated a devout audience among young Wa people and other ethnic minorities.
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Directed and Written by: Dolly Li
Featuring: Kawa
Produced by: Dolly Li and Venus Wu
Shot by: Beimeng Fu and Venus Wu
Edited by: Beimeng Fu and Joel Roche
Mastered by: Joel Roche
Additional footage:
Kawa performs "红毛树" with Wa musician on 优斯迪吧: www.iqiyi.com/...
Kawa performs for a Yunnan elementary school on 裂缝TV: v.youku.com/v_...
Music: Audio Network
Additional Music Provided by Kawa
干酒醉: open.spotify.c...
大起大落: open.spotify.c...
红毛树: open.spotify.c...
Resources:
Read more about Kawa and the Wa people: www.goldthread...
Kawa’s Latest Album: open.spotify.c...
--
“The Burma-China Boundary Settlement” by Maung Maung, Asian Survey: www.jstor.org/...
“‘We Are All Part of the Same Family’: China’s Ethnic Propaganda” by Anne-Marie Brady, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs: journals.sub.u...
“Shaping of the Yunnan-Burma Frontier by Secret Societies since the End of the 17th Century” by Jianxiong Ma, Moussons: journals.opene...
This is just too important to not share, indigenous culture in China that has so many different types of people in one place. Just an ode to keeping tradition alive and learning to spread your history to the youth. Truly inspiring. Kawa has a new fan, and Yunnan, is now on my bucket list of places to visit in China, Thanks GoldThread :)
Nice to see them embracing Jamaican music . Letz not get it twisted, there will never be another BOB MARLEY . Lets jus give thanks n praises that he has graced the whole world with his music n messages. When I say this I am only being truthful n proud both as a Jamaican n as an original roots rock reggae singer myself. Blessed.loce. 1 heart.
LOVE
Hi new subie sent by stephanie soo 🤗🤗🤗 I was shocked to see this I'm from Jamaica just like Bob Marley it's so good you have a replica in your country as Bob was a legendary soul.
I am also a Jamaican and I am so impressed by these love for reggae .
I haven't listened to reggae in more than 2 years I think and I haven't read anything about chinese culture in a good while as well. With that said, I woke up about 30 minutes ago and was dreaming about a guy telling me to look up "the chinese Bob Marley" so here I am. I'm a bit baffled that I actually found him, very interesting clip. Dreams are strange.
it was the ghost of David Lynch
@@Tokk123 LOLOLOLOLOLOL
I am feeling so glad to see, that also the people in China love Reggae Music! One Love from Germany! Reggae makes us unite!
@Roberto Gutierrez that`s great to know....One Love!
❤💛💚
big up mi Germany homie
Keep up the good work! Currently binge watching your videos.
That guy is awesome!! Bless him!! Very talented.
Wow, this guy is so iconic, more people need to know him!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻minorities are just as important as the majorities and they should all be well known❤️
New sub! Interesting how music can unite people
👏 big up to you !! 👐👐👐 much luv and respect
I'm obsessed with them since I met Laohei (guitar) in Pu'er this year 2024! I wish I could see them live!! Ay ha!
Reggae is from a struggling class of black people of the Caribbean.Who identifies with the Uighur people of China we love them, for they are our struggling people of the east
Yes I rastafari live in the heart of all men jah blessings keep doing jah work we love yall
Buy their record KAWA The Route Out Of Yunnan at Beijing last week... Nice album..!
Big up..! Blessings from Paris France... ❤️💛💚..!
Jamaica welcome you. One love str888 out of Jamaica
@@junerosa3766 please stop it reggae music is the ppl culture
welcome to china yunnan we got some good.ganja and we can share those good ting ya know
@@张一帆-i6k yes chinie man good ganja one love
Rohan Simpson one pound ganja= one pound love
a lot of ganja= love dis world
Rohan Simpson bob marley live forever
So Awesome. Congrats Dude😎
Still sending love from the phanie pack❤️❤️
Iam Kenyan and i love this
Love brothers.. Greetings from California.. IRIE.
No other 1 can be like SKA/BOB none n I say this whole.heartedly as a 1 who knew SKA/BOB from deh early days
Ay Ha! 🍻
here from steph
Rastafari love from Jamaica 🇯🇲
❤️ ❤️ ❤️ Love this
38k views? should be 38,000,000
Rasta oneness everywhere❤🧡💚
👌🏻
Interesting.
Name of the music
大起大落 (roughly translates to Ups and Downs) by KAWA
This is cool or what. Very nice
AY HA! hope Han Chinese can learn of the other minorities!
This guy mix it look like he have black in im i don't know if am right
Kenneth Sewell No he’s not. He’s an ethnic Burmese minority in China. A lot of people in Yunnan can be super dark skinned.
Wa people have dark skin, some have much darker skin than him, and they are proud of it, in a country that has pale skin as a beauty ideal. Apart from the Wa, there are plenty of other dark-skinned peoples in Southeast Asia, such as the Maniq people of Thailand (who are so called Negritos).
He be jammin....TRUMP 2020
干酒醉
He is smoking sake ??
who is watching this while smoking ganja?
Wtf
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
They possibly could be the hmongs..
What the fuck? No. They are not Hmong.
He's from the Wa community. :)
Culture vultures
How are they culture vultures? They perform Wa folk music mixed with reggae (as well as other music styles), a form of music that is a global phenomenon, and they honor its roots. Wa folk music also sometimes has the element of offbeat rhythms, I've seen it when visiting Wa villages, hearing villagers play traditional music, so they have an affinity to reggae and quickly get the hang of it. The Wa people's place of origin bares a lot of resemblance to Jamaica, apart from being far from the ocean, and they have suffered oppression and colonialism as an indigenous people. And when it comes to dreadlocks, it's a hairstyle that exists in many places in the world, also in China, for example among Tibetan monks. Here's an interesting story about Chinese-Jamaican historical influence on reggae: www.topic.com/redemption-songs
@@Soffenoffe you wouldn overstand..their culture vultures cause they cant sing reggae an not fight the reggae fight..aint jus bout nusic
@@jahlovemusik No sure, reggae is a larger phenomenon than just music, they'd be quick to admit that. They cannot play political songs fighting for things they believe in - like freedom - because they live in China, if they did the consequences would be awful.
@@Soffenoffe listen i guess ur of w
European decent or asian..reggae music is about black people struggling against European white supremacy and tge rest of the world now they cant sing reggae and not defend African people when its outcherr like black lifed matter even though i dont support that bs cause it was a white man who started that..if you aint for black people then stay the fuq away from our culture
@@jahlovemusik I'm Scandinavian. I really understand what you're saying and don't deny that that's the heart of reggae and I'm sure this band knows it too (I know them personally and they have huge respect for African cultures and have educated themselves on black history and racial issues and the horrors of white supremacy). The Wa people in China (only the singer in this band is Wa but most band members grew up in the ancestral home region of the Wa people and belong to other ethnic minorities) are often referred to as "the blacks of China" ("中国的黑人") because they have the darkest skin of any minority group in China, and many ignorant people who see them in the streets of China will go: "Oh, look, an African!" (I've personally heard people say that behind the backs of Wa people, thinking they don't know Chinese and can't understand and once Wa friends of mine got asked where they were from by fellow countrymen and answered "South Africa" and very totally believed until they revealed that they are really from China). They have reason to feel a bond with black people and with various indigenous peoples (among indigenous people globally reggae is incredibly popular and used to express their shared struggles for dignity in the face of the dehumanizing effects of colonization and globalization) and the Wa people I know that are educated on the outside world support black political and anti-racist movements. With their work and the primary ingredient of traditional Wa music in it, this band has brought a lot of cultural pride to the Wa people and brought them to the attention of lots of people who were unaware of their existance, a people who I often hear express pride over their dark skin in a country that has had pale skin as a beauty ideal since ancient times and where the younger generations unlike the oldest don't call themselves "primitive" or "uncultured", like older generations were told that they were by the Chinese and Burmese communist armies that came to their lands in the 1950's. Don't you think indigenous people using reggae to express themselves is in any way in the spirit of reggae? Indigenous people belong to some of the most vulnerable populations on Earth and their cultures face great threats to survival.
This is embarrassing to watch.
How so?
your mind is embarrassing u